Last updated: Thursday 14 January 2020
We have already made our operations as Covid-safe as possible. In lockdown, please be extra vigilant about maintaining social distance, washing hands frequently and wearing a face covering.
Veg scheme updates Please check back here regularly for latest collection point opening times.
Farmers' market updates. Which stalls to expect this Saturday.
Volunteering at our growing sites
Operational changes to keep you safe
Market is open every Saturday 10am - 2.30pm.
We encourage you to wear a mask to keep you, other customers and stallholders safe. Please respect the 2 metre distancing rules. There is hand sanitiser at the gate and a hand-washing station inside the market.
We all enjoy meeting friends at the market, but please be mindful of the queue of people waiting outside. Shop as quickly as possible and don't stop to chat!
Don't bring children if you can avoid it and leave bicycles outside. Please leave the market before eating takeaway food.
If you'd like to receive weekly email updates about the farmers' market and other GC activities, please use the Subscribe to our mailing list box at the bottom of this page.
Provisional stall list for Saturday 16 January:
* Galileo Organic Farm accepts email orders until 12 noon each Wednesday. Collect from the market between 12 noon and 2.30pm on Saturdays.
PaMa and Hempen are not attending the farmers' market for now, but you can order from them online through these links: PaMa online shop and Hempen online shop.
Keep yourself and others safe
Please wear a mask when collecting your bags - even if your collection point is outdoors. Respect social distancing and stay 2m from other people when queuing to collect.
Don't want your bags?
Our Food Credit Scheme is the best way to donate your bags. It's more effective and less wasteful than leaving unwanted bags at your collection point. The money goes into a central pot, then we deliver fresh, organic produce when and where it’s needed directly from GC HQ, usually to Hackney Food Bank and also to one-off projects.
Castle Climbing Centre - REDUCED HOURS DURING LOCKDOWN
Dalston Eastern Curve Garden - REDUCED HOURS DURING LOCKDOWN
e5 Bakehouse - REOPENS 14 JANUARY
If you are a member of the veg scheme and need to contact us, please email us.
Castle Climbing Centre
Green Lanes, N4 2HA
UPDATE 6 JANUARY: Collection times are shorter during lockdown as the centre is closed to climbers. Collection times: Thursday 3pm - 5.30pm, Friday 9am - 5.30pm.
If someone is already collecting when you arrive, please wait outside and give them space.
Don't prop the doors open when you collect. Please respect the space, keep fire exits clear and remember to close the doors and gate when you leave, then wash your hands when you get home.
Please note: don’t be confused by the padlock to the right of the GC door, which gives access to a private Castle workspace. You can still open the left-hand door to access our cupboard using the keypad as usual.
Core Clapton
161 Northwold Road, Upper Clapton, E5 8RL
Collection times: Thursdays 3.30pm - 9pm, Fridays 8am - 5pm.
UPDATE 12 JANUARY: The Garden is open for veg collection: Thursdays: 3pm - 5pm. Fridays: 2pm - 5pm. Please go to the side entrance of the garden on the left as you go up Hartwell Street. Then call Brian on his mobile (log into your account or check your email or text for his number) and he'll let you in. Brian and Marie are opening the garden as a huge favour to us, so please don't ask to collect your bags at any other time.
e5 bakehouse
Mentmore Terrace, E8 3PH
Collection times: Thursdays 9am-3pm; Fridays 9am-3pm (Please note, the collection point is closed on Wednesdays.)
To collect, join the queue at the door. Make sure you know which bags you should be collecting - these are listed in your online account, your weekly email newsletter and your weekly text. e5 staff will bring your bags to you. Please be patient, wear a mask and respect social distancing rules.
Hackney City Farm
Hackney Road, E2 8QA
Collection times: Weds 6-8pm, Thurs 11am-7.30pm, Fri 11am-4pm. Get Loose unpackaged shop is also open during most of these hours.
On Wednesdays, please only go into the veg collection room two at a time. You can access the veg cupboards on Thursday and Friday.
Hackney Downs Studios
Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT
Collection times: Wednesdays 8pm-10pm, Thursdays 8am-8pm; Fridays 8am-8pm.
The swap box is back!
Hatch
8 Mackintosh Lane, Homerton, E9 6AB
Collection times: Wednesdays 7.30pm-10pm, Thursdays 8am-10pm, Fridays 8am-10pm.
St Mary Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 9ES
Collection times: Wednesdays 5pm – 9pm; Thursdays 9am – 9pm. (Please note change to Wednesday opening time.)
There's a mains light in the garage. The switch is on the right-hand side just behind the door. Don't forget to turn it off when you're finished.
Mother Earth Newington Green
103 Newington Green Road, N1 4QY
Collection times: Wednesdays 4pm – 6.30pm, Thursdays 11am – 6.30pm, Fridays 11am – 6.30pm.
The Old Fire Station
61 Leswin Road, N16 7NX
Collection times: Wednesdays 3.30pm-9pm (staffed 3.30pm-7.30pm), Thursdays 8am-9pm, Fridays 8am-5pm. At Wednesday's staffed bag pick-up, collect from the main Fire Station through the red double doors. For later collections in the yard, please close the cupboard doors when you have taken your bags. We don't want foxes to nibble your veg!
The swap box is back!
We're trialling bringing back the swap box at the OFS, after more than three-quarters of you asked for it in our recent survey. It will be in the hall during the Wednesday staffed collection, then outside the cupboards in the yard after that.
For those of you new to the scheme, the swap box gives you a chance to exchange an item in your bag that you don't want, for one that you do. Please swap all of a particular thing: eg all your bananas for the whole portion of onions in the box.
Organic & Natural
191 Lower Clapton Rd, E5 8EG
Collection times: Wednesdays 3pm-8pm, Thursdays 10am-8pm, Fridays 10am-8pm, Saturdays 10am-12pm.
Redmond Centre - Closed
The Redmond Centre is closed. We are delivering bags to the nearby Castle Climbing Centre instead.
Round Chapel Old School Rooms
Old School Rooms, 2 Powerscroft Road, E5 0PU
Collection times: Wednesdays 1pm-9pm, Thursday 8.30am-9pm, Friday 8.30am-5pm. Please bear with us and hold off collecting until 2pm if you can.
St John of Jerusalem
Lauriston Road, E9 7DH
Collection times: Thursdays 11am-7pm, Fridays 10am-7pm, Saturdays: 10am-1pm.
St Peter de Beauvoir
Northchurch Terrace, De Beauvoir Town, N1 4DA
Collection times: Thursdays 1pm-8.30pm; Fridays 8am-8.30pm.
Update 14 January: The swap box will be coming back!
Fill in our joining form here. If you'd like to sign up our waiting list to hear when places come up at our full collection points, please give us your details here.
Our Dagenham Farm and Hackney sites are closed to volunteers in the winter. We don't yet know how we'll manage volunteering in 2021 but we'll update this page in due course. Or you can join our mailing list, through the link at the bottom of the page, for weekly updates on all our activities.
Growing Communities staff are working hard to protect our members, market customers, ourselves and our families from the Covid-19 virus
We’ve been taking extra precautions in our packing and delivery operations to minimise the risk of transmitting the virus.
Veg packing: All staff have been trained in Coronavirus hygiene. All staff wash hands before the pack starts and wear gloves while packing. Staff know not to touch their faces or phones during the packing. All staff wash hands according to official public health guidelines before and after eating or any breaks. We have minimised staff in the office to avoid unnecessary foot traffic during the pack. We’re quarantining your returned plastic bags to eliminate risk of contamination, and we have removed some swap boxes.
Veg delivery: The delivery van is cleaned when drivers change over and delivery staff have been trained in how to minimise the potential for virus transmission.
Market: We have spaced out the stalls to allow for quicker shopping and safe queuing. Stallholders are offering cardless transactions wherever possible and have their own hand sanitisers. We no longer offer samples of produce at the market. Please make use of the hand-washing facilities and sanitiser as you leave the market. We recommend wearing a mask while shopping.
Our farm and growing sites: Our growers are washing hands and tools regularly, cleaning gloves frequently and have been trained in Coronavirus hygiene.
Please help us! The veg scheme operates via public collection points so we ask you to take all precautions for public spaces including wearing a mask, bringing your own hand sanitiser or sanitiser wipes to wipe your hands after collecting your bags. Please remember to wash your hands after unpacking your veg (and fruit) at home as well as washing all fruit and veg before use as usual.
